38-year-old Pleasanton man tased by police, dies in their custody

PLEASANTON (BCN) A man who died at a hospital on Wednesday afternoon after Pleasanton police officers handcuffed him for allegedly causing a disturbance inside a grocery store was identified by police today as 38-year-old Jacob Bauer of Pleasanton.

Police said officers responded to a disturbance call at the Raley's store at 5420 Sunol Blvd. at 2:42 p.m. on Wednesday after a manager reported that a man was acting irrationally and was picking up a shopping cart and slamming it to the ground and then opening and breaking bottles of alcohol.

Police said officers found the man, later identified as Bauer, nearby in the first block of Mission Drive but when they attempted to detain him he failed to comply with their requests to place his hands behind his back.

In addition, Bauer resisted officers' attempts to place him in handcuffs and scratched and bit them, according to police.

Officers struggled to place Bauer in handcuffs for more than five minutes and during that time they used an electronic control device on him, police said.

Bauer allegedly continued to struggle with officers even after he was finally detained in handcuffs so they then used a leg restraint device to safely transport him via ambulance to Stanford Valley Care in Pleasanton for a routine medical clearance.

But Bauer displayed signs of respiratory distress as paramedics placed him in the ambulance so they provided immediate medical aid and transported him to the hospital, police said.

Life-saving measures were taken at the hospital but Bauer was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived there, according to police.

Two Pleasanton officers suffered minor injuries during the incident and were transported to Stanford Valley Care, where they were treated and released.

The Pleasanton Police Department, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and the Alameda County coroner's office are conducting independent investigations of the death.

Pleasanton police are asking that anyone who has information about the incident call them at (925) 931-5100.